Old. Conservative. Christian. In love with my wife, our boys, Texas, America, Western Civilization, and Jesus. Sorry about the decline of newspapers.

July 28, 2017

JUULY 28, 2017 / How not to win friends and influence people, and consequences thereof

Donald John Trump, July 18, 2015, speaking of Senator John McCain:

He's not a war hero. He is a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured, okay?

What payback looks like:

The Republican effort to dismantle the Affordable Care Act collapsed early Friday when a slimmed-down Senate measure to pare back selected pieces of the 2010 health-care law failed, undermining the GOP leaders’ efforts to deliver on a longtime campaign promise. Sens. John McCain, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins cast the three Republican “no” votes that helped sink the measure 49-51. (Christina Peterson, Michelle Hackman, and Siobhan Hughes, "'Skinny' Repeal of Obamacare Fails in Senate," wsj.com, July 28, 2017)

I am not so crass as to believe Mr. McCain did not vote his conscience on "skinny repeal." He is and always has been comfortable with the policies of the left.

In a better world, however, a Republican president could have persuaded a ranking Republican senator to take one for the Gipper -- to let the bill live long enough to reach conference committee. The president's pitch here, sadly, would have lacked the same resonance: "Take one for the Bully."

What the future holds:

The line of public figures Mr. Trump has insulted, personally and profoundly, is long and growing longer. Imagine the day he needs a favor or the benefit of the doubt or a vote from Little Marco. Or Lyin' Ted. Or Beleagured Jeff Sessions. Or [you fill in the blank].